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Mixed reaction to Newport development plans
Saturday 9th July 2011, 12:29PM BST.
Residents have given mixed reactions to the planned multi-million pound redevelopment of Newport.
People got to assess the plans at a consultation meeting at Burton Borough School on Thursday night.
Proposals, drawn up by developers Davidsons Developments and St Modwen in conjunction with Telford & Wrekin Council, would see the school given a facelift, 400 hundred homes built, retail units constructed, as well as a new supermarket off Station Road and business park off the A518.
Telford & Wrekin borough councillor Roy Scammel said: “After looking at the plans and speaking to people for two hours at the consultation I’m dead against these proposals.
“We are a market town and these proposals would increase our housing stock by about 25 per cent and the supermarket would utterly destroy the High Street.
“The plans to develop Burton Borough and build a new business park bringing jobs into the area is good news, but everything lumped together like this is an over development.”
Mr Scammel added he believed the majority of people had similar views. He said: “I’m confident that local parish councils will also dismiss the proposals.”
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Typically, the local, small-minded, parochial councillors are dead against any development in Newport whilst they continue to try to live in the 1940s.
Well I hope they enjoy their dying town with its take-aways, hairdressers, charity shops and empty premises because there isn’t the population to support major retail outlets.
Newport will soon be like Market Drayton – Newport’s only saviour is its two selective schools. Apart from the schools, the town has very limited assets or attractions.
Embrace new development and change – or Newport will die or become a dormitory town for Harper Adams University College.
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Yes, brilliant idea. Let’s build more and more homes so the town becomes unrecognisable. Let’s add another supermarket – that way the new arrivals will never have to go into the town centre and its demise will be hastened. And let’s wait a few years and develop Newport so much it’ll be one big suburb of Telford.
And, while we’re on the subject of stupid ideas, they’re promising hundreds of jobs will come with this development. How do they work that one out? What jobs? Where will they come from? There are plenty of business units in the town already and they’re not exactly overcrowded.
If this expansion goes ahead it will be a disaster for Newport. But I’m fairly sure its approval is a foregone conclusion.
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I think your mention of “new arrivals” says it all.
And you can’t see that Newport is basically a suburb of Telford already and that the majority of Novaportans work and shop in Telford because Newport has nothing and will continue to have nothing unless there’s progress and change.
Not In My Back Yard parochialism at its worst.
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So, according to you, “the majority of Novaportans work and shop in Telford because Newport has nothing and will continue to have nothing unless there’s progress and change”.
And your idea for progress and change is to build yet another supermarket which will encourage people not to shop in the town centre. Your definition of progress is not progress at all.
I assume you work for a supermarket.
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I’ve never worked for a supermarket in my life, Mark. But I do live in the 21st Century, unlike Novaportans.
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Have you been down newport high street lately. We have weatherd the economic climate quite well, with only a couple of shops empty. We have well established small shops which are unique and we are not dying . But with this monstrous development we will, yes become like all the other dying rural towns, T&WC seem intent on killing, just for money. We have 2 petrol stations which are competative, and a busy high street. We do not want a supermarket which is planned to be larger than sainsburys in telford. We have 2 already and a low cost store in the town. We do not want to become yet another off shoot of telford. Develpoment yes but not on this scale, be sensible.
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Unfortunately, with the recession, pay freezes and costs going up, people are starting to think “lets look after number one”. Large supermarkets are convenient and cheaper than local shops, with everything under one roof.
Whether you like it or not, small businesses are on the demise. It would be great if people supported smaller shops, but I don’t think that will ever be the case.
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How will a supermarket destroy the High Street? I live in Newport and I buy from a supermarket what I cannot buy in the town so how can it take away business that is not there in the first place?
Waitrose – too expensive
Co-Op – too expensive and poor quality
I think if you build the supermarket it will encourage people to visit the town whilst they’re over this way, they’ll visit the Newport supermarket for a change of scenery much they way I do when I visit Market Drayton for a change of shopping venue – at the moment Telfordians do not come near or by because there is no reason to – I should know, I used to live in Telford until recently and I never ever came to Newport to shop because there was no point wasting the petrol! I do like a wander down the High Street on a Saturday afternoon but I do not go with a specific purpose because I generally cannot get what I want there!
And as for the housing, well does anyone else have a better idea on what to do about a housing crisis that sees you on a waiting list for 10 years before the authorities can house you because private rents are more than can be afforded thanks to a housing market that is impossible for first time buyers to break into?
If staying as a small market town were an economically and socially viable option I’d be all for it but unfortunately its not
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I am a new resident to Newport and am very much against this development. Newport is currently a lovely, small town. It has a sense of community that seems to have long gone in other market towns in the borough. How can anyone comment and say that change is necessary for the economy of the town? Did the people of Wellington beleive that before the retail parks came along? I was in Wellington centre the other day, it was dead, full of empty shops or charity shops. The same thing will happen to Newport if this development goes ahead.
A supermaket will not encourage people to the town. If you want to attract people to the town, spend the money on redeveloping the canal and increasing tourism.
I am also unsure of how there is a ‘housing crisis’ in Newport. I was a first time buyer and through working hard and saving have bought a house. It is not a given right to own a home, and if you can’t afford to buy somewhere then you have to buy somewhere else or rent. If you can’t afford to rent there, then you have to live somewhere where you can afford to rent. You have to live to your means. You need to live to your means.
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